This year, tens of thousands of Americans will be diagnosed with a blood cancer—most commonly leukemia. This type of cancer, which originates in bone marrow (the spongy tissue at the core of our bones) doesn’t discriminate. It affects people of all ages, including children, teenagers, and young adults.
It sounds terrifying, but get this: Around 65% of adults and 90% of children fighting this disease today will beat it, compared to the 1940s and 1950s—barely 80 years ago—when the mortality rate was 100%.
So who’s to thank for the myriad of life-saving miracle innovations that have brought so much hope, comfort, and community to leukemia patients and their families?
Scientists, medical professionals…and the nonprofits working alongside them. We’ve put together this list of leukemia charities working hard to make a difference. Find out how you can too.
6 Leukemia Charities to Support Right Now
1. Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is a nationally-renown, decades-old nonprofit supporting blood cancer research, patients, and families, both through science and through public policy and advocacy. Their mission is straightforward: to cure blood cancers. The groundbreaking research they fund and contribute to also helps uncover treatments and therapies that improve cancer patients’ quality of life, and their public policy initiatives are working to help make cancer treatments more accessible, and treatment innovations more expeditious.
For donors who care about…
- Funding research
- Accelerating new medical innovations
- Supporting a nationally-renown nonprofit
- Impacting public policy
How to Support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
- Donate directly; dozens of giving options available
- Help them impact public policy
- Become a social ambassador
- Volunteer
- Shop and donate your cash back through Giving Assistant
2. Leukemia Research Foundation
The Leukemia Research Foundation is a long-standing nonprofit focused on funding blood cancer research. Like the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Leukemia Research Foundation was founded in the 1940s in response to a child losing their life to, what was at that time, a 100% terminal disease. To date, the foundation has raised more than $80 million for cancer research, helping pave the road for many of the life-saving blood cancer treatments available today. Beyond that, they also work to bring comfort and joy to cancer patients of all ages with everything from online support groups, to financial aid, and even kids’ fundraising parties.
For donors who care about…
- Emotional and community support for cancer patients
- Funding research grants
- Accelerating new medical innovations
How to Support the Leukemia Research Foundation
- Donate directly; dozens of giving options available
- Shop and donate your cash back through Giving Assistant
- Participate in Blood Cancer Awareness Month via social
- Create a fundraising page
3. Be the Match
Be the Match is perhaps the largest nonprofit in America focused on connecting leukemia patients in need of bone marrow transplants with viable (matching) blood marrow donors. It was founded in the 1980s by Dr. Robert and Sherry Graves, whose 10-year-old daughter’s life was saved when she received “the first ever bone marrow transplant for a leukemia patient from an unrelated donor.” The nonprofit encourages people from all walks of life to register to become donors, and within the last year alone has enabled nearly 6,500 transplants.
For donors who care about…
- Connecting patients with donors
- Bone marrow transplant research
- Impacting public policy
- Patient emotional and community support
- Saving lives
How to Support Be the Match
- Learn about bone marrow donation
- Learn about donating cord blood
- Get involved with their public policy efforts
- Encourage others to register to donate
- Donate directly
- Shop and donate your cash back through Giving Assistant (note, the official name of Be the Match is the National Marrow Donor Program)
4. DKMS
DKMS is a nonprofit that helps save more cancer patients’ lives by focusing on registering bone marrow donors around the world. In effect, their work helps keep the United States’ National Bone Marrow Registry robust: though founded and headquartered in Germany, they are officially affiliated with our National Marrow Donor Program (NMPD), and are as active in America—and as reliant on support from American donors—as other nationally-renown leukemia charities.
Like Be the Match, DKMS (which stands for “Deutsche Knochen Mark Spenderdatei” or “German Bone Marrow Donor File”) wants to everyone to know that a simple cheek swab from you could be the start of a life-saving journey for someone desperately in need of a bone marrow donor.
For donors who care about…
- Finding more marrow donors
- Increasing the marrow donor registry
- Helping more patients find donor matches
- Supporting marrow donor matching worldwide
How to Support DKMS
- Register to be a bone marrow donor
- Run your own virtual donation drive
- Donate directly
- Shop and donate your cash back through Giving Assistant
5. Children’s Leukemia Research Association
The Children’s Leukemia Research Association is a nonprofit focused on discovering new treatments, and ultimately finding a cure, for childhood leukemia, a disease that strikes an average of 3,500 American children every year. Moreover, the association provides financial assistance to dozens of families every year to help them afford their loved ones’ treatment, as well as other associated costs. Lead by the parent of a childhood leukemia survivor, this nonprofit also offers a research grant program, helping scientists move the world closer to a cure every day.
For donors who care about…
- Supporting families financially
- Childhood cancer research
- Accelerating medical innovations
How to Support the Children’s Leukemia Research Association
- Donate directly
- Shop and donate your cash back through Giving Assistant
6. Childhood Leukemia Foundation
The Childhood Leukemia Foundation serves the families of childhood cancer patients in over 250 hospitals across dozens of U.S. cities by providing them with emotional and community support, and through programs such as Hugs-U-Wear: wigs made from real, donated hair that can help kids facing chemotherapy-related hair loss regain their confidence. Even better: The Childhood Leukemia Foundation actually serves families battling any form of childhood cancer.
For donors who care about…
- Quality of life for childhood cancer patients
- Comfort and community programming
- Supporting patients’ families financially
- Donating wigs, care packages, technology, and more
How to Support the Childhood Leukemia Foundation
- Donate directly
- Shop and donate your cash back through Giving Assistant
- Donate your car
- Volunteer